Marijuana Legalization. Yay Or Nay.

**Sara luvs her Tinky** · 11-19-2003, 07:40 AM

I vote NAY!

I know from personal experience that pot turns you into the biggest bum! And we need to be stimulating people to be smarter and brighter rather than stoned and dumber.

I have heard studies say that smoking one blunt of pot is equivelant to smoking one pack of cigarettes and one hit off of a bong is equal to smoking five packs. You have to consider when people smoke pot it isn't filtered and they hold the smoke in longer for a better high.

Annnnnddddd (on my soapbox now) pot is the biggest gateway drug. People act like pot is so innocent (and so it may seem) so when people start smoking pot and realize how fun it is they want to branch out and see how much "fun" the other drugs are.

I wouldn't want to compare cigarettes to pot really because cigarettes don't effect you the way pot does...

**Cheshirekatt** · 11-19-2003, 07:44 AM

I think anything could be considered a gateway drug to someone with an addictive personality.

**Sara luvs her Tinky** · 11-19-2003, 07:52 AM

I think anything could be considered a gateway drug to someone with an addictive personality.

You don't have to have an additive personality to just want to have a good time.....

**2kitties** · 11-19-2003, 08:24 AM

Yay. And Tax the heck out of it. It's a non-addictive substance, which impairs your body like alcohol, which is legal. This country already tried prohibition and it didn't work out for a zillion reasons. It's a valuable tax resource that could help schools, road and the deficit. I say Sell It!

**babolaypo65** · 11-19-2003, 08:41 AM

Sell it, regulate it, tax it. Make it available only to people over 21 (same as alcohol). Make the proceeds from the tax go to rehab services.

FWIW I think cigarrete tax money should be funneled to pay for smoking health related problems, and booze tax should pay for booze related problems.
If folks want to partake, then they should pay for the services they'll need out of their own tax.

**G.P.girl** · 11-19-2003, 08:50 AM

i say NAY
it's not going to make people stop getting drunk or smoking. they

are just going to do marijuana in addition to all their other drugs

and crap. besides first one drug is legal then soon all the rest are

going to be legal too.

**micki76** · 11-19-2003, 08:53 AM

Originally posted by Sara luvs her Tinky
I vote NAY!

I know from personal experience that pot turns you into the biggest bum! And we need to be stimulating people to be smarter and brighter rather than stoned and dumber.

I have heard studies say that smoking one blunt of pot is equivelant to smoking one pack of cigarettes and one hit off of a bong is equal to smoking five packs. You have to consider when people smoke pot it isn't filtered and they hold the smoke in longer for a better high.

Annnnnddddd (on my soapbox now) pot is the biggest gateway drug. People act like pot is so innocent (and so it may seem) so when people start smoking pot and realize how fun it is they want to branch out and see how much "fun" the other drugs are.

I wouldn't want to compare cigarettes to pot really because cigarettes don't effect you the way pot does...

I agree! Why would anyone want to be high? It makes you feel and act stupid and it is more harmful than cigarettes. Imagine the chemicals that the manufacturers would put in pot! After all, the government has already said that the chemicals added to cigarettes are A OK for us in that they still allow them to be added, even though we all know how harmful they are. I know tobacco alone is bad, but the chemicals just increase the danger. Funny how they have outlawed other dangerous chemicals that cause cancer and other diseases, but those weren’t huge $ producers like cigarettes.

Pot fries your brain and I know many people who smoke it regularly. They are almost all fried and/or useless. Occasional use isn’t likely to cause much harm, but regular use can be devastating. My own sister is an excellent example. Her brain is fried. She makes the dumb blondes in the dumb blonde jokes look smart (she was an honor student) and she smoked pot every day for YEARS (she quit about 4 yrs ago and nothing has come back yet). She made nothing of her life and has nothing to her name to this day. Pot is a motivation zapper.

So why not legalize? If people want to be stupid and fry themselves then let them right? Well, we have a lot of laws to keep people from harming themselves. Helmet laws, and seatbelt laws. It’s illegal to attempt suicide in most states, which is a good law. It helps people get the help they need; if they attempt it, they’re taken into custody and taken for help.

Legalize it for medical use? Absolutely. If someone has cancer or aids or another devastating disease and pot can help them in any way, then certainly. This is the only way I could ever imagine legalizing pot.

Society has already given kids the green light on so many things, lets not take it another step.

**lbaker** · 11-19-2003, 09:55 AM

YAY
......and I'm not even going to get into arguments or the back & forth why's and why not's I've read here. Like so many other things in life it's a matter of personal choice and that's a good thing. You don't like it? Don't do it. Don't criticize those that don't agree with your opinion. End of story.

**2kitties** · 11-19-2003, 10:01 AM

Originally posted by lbaker
YAY
......and I'm not even going to get into arguments or the back & forth why's and why not's I've read here. Like so many other things in life it's a matter of personal choice and that's a good thing. You don't like it? Don't do it. Don't criticize those that don't agree with your opinion. End of story.

You Said It!

**wolfsoul** · 11-19-2003, 10:32 AM

I say nay. I agree with using it for health reasons, but I think the people who do should have a liscence (ie. bad situation -- cop arrests kid BUT "I have health problems." legit or nonlegit?).

On terms of cigarettes, they are much much worse. And you know what's discusting? Propylene glycol is an ingredient they add. It's also an ingredient added to dog foods. Sick or what?!!

**micki76** · 11-19-2003, 10:36 AM

Originally posted by lbaker
YAY
......and I'm not even going to get into arguments or the back & forth why's and why not's I've read here. Like so many other things in life it's a matter of personal choice and that's a good thing. You don't like it? Don't do it. Don't criticize those that don't agree with your opinion. End of story.

To not agree with someone’s decision to or to not smoke pot isn’t infringing on their “personal choice” rights. Where should we draw the line of “personal choice”? Should we legalize other drugs? Which ones? Which ones remain illegal? Acid isn’t additive, but it can be harmful and dangerous to others if the person has a bad experience. Do we only outlaw addictive drugs? If so, there goes cigarettes and alcohol.

Our country is based on freedom, but in order to have a country where we can all try t co-exist relatively comfortably, there must be laws. Everything can’t be about personal choice, because we all have different opinions on right and wrong. Laws are necessary otherwise you have total chaos.

**jonza** · 11-19-2003, 11:36 AM

Alcohol and marijuana have been around for hundreds, presumably thousands of years. And the world would probably look quite a bit different if they hadn’t. I’ve often thought that it would be thought provoking to write a book on “The World’s Greatest Alcoholics”. Alexander the Great was supposed to have drunk up to 10 liters of wine a day (and died when he was about 32). Winston Churchill loved his Cognac. Boris Jeltsin certainly knows how to put a couple of vodkas away. These are very important men who have affected the development of our civilization.
And then there are the arts. How many great works of art have been created “under the influence” of something or other I wonder? (Poets in the 1800’s indulging in opium just one example).

These are all naturally existing drugs, but what about all these complex molecules that we are consuming more and more of nowadays? The wonder drugs that are supposed to solve all our problems. They’re just called PILLS. You’re supposed to take them if you’re hyper, take them if you’re depressed, take them if you’re tired, take them if you’re too thin, take them if you’re too fat, take them if you’ve got a headache. Whatever. There are even reports of drug companies trying to invent disorders so they can produce an antidote and make another million bucks!
If we really knew the truth I think we would be shocked to find out how many “great” men were dependant on “illegal substances”. Here again, in recent times we have people like John F Kennedy (amphetamines and pain killers) and my childhood hero Winston Churchill (a manio-depressive dependant on Benzedrine and alcohol).

… and why do we do this? Partly because we’re inundated with advertisements for these products day in and day out. All in the name of the holy dollar. After all, in a capitalistic society, the drug companies first priority is to make a profit for themselves and their stockholders (just like the alcohol and tobacco companies). They sometimes find out much later whether their products are harmful to the consumers in the long run, and will always try to deny it.

At least marijuana is a physically non-addictive substance, which alcohol and a majority of pills most definitely aren’t. And the idea that "It makes you feel and act stupid and it is more harmful than cigarettes" doesn’t fit with my experience at all.

"I say NAY, a big NAY -- Because it kills you faster than cigarettes".
I would very much like to see some reliable proof of that statement!

"Annnnnddddd (on my soapbox now) pot is the biggest gateway drug. People act like pot is so innocent (and so it may seem) so when people start smoking pot and realize how fun it is they want to branch out and see how much "fun" the other drugs are".
Comment from Cheshirekatt: "anything could be considered a gateway drug to someone with an addictive personality".
I agree with that, I think we’re generalizing again here. Do beers lead to whisky, does a headache pill lead to ecstasy?

… and for those of you whose main addiction is coca-cola, here’s a very interesting site on it’s drug-enduced history! coca cola

There are so many pros and cons to all this, as in so many other things. In the end it all comes back to the old childhood adage which applies to just about everything, from making love to making war:

“It’s not what you do, it’s the way that you do it”.

john

**RICHARD** · 11-19-2003, 11:54 AM

Originally posted by wolfsoul
And you know what's discusting? Propylene glycol is an ingredient they add. It's also an ingredient added to dog foods. Sick or what?!!

That's why I don't let my dog smoke cigarettes.

**moosmom** · 11-19-2003, 12:06 PM

RICHARD, RICHARD, RICHARD...

Now I understand your avatar "Land of the Easily Amused"

lbaker,

Like so many other things in life it's a matter of personal choice and that's a good thing. You don't like it? Don't do it. Don't criticize those that don't agree with your opinion. End of story.

I couldn't have said it better.